Given a news of someone's death

In BE we couldn't say 'it hits me' in such a case; I find the impersonal construction very inappropriate. We'd say something like -

I am very sorry...
I was most upset...

Hi,
Given a news of someone's death,

It hits me to hear/learn of/about his death.
It hits me to hear/learn his death.

I did google books search, and I found all the six were used.
I wonder what are the differences with and without the prepositions.

The versions without the prepositions sound odd to me. I never hear them.

I agree that 'hit me' in thi

CliveThe versions without the prepositions sound odd to me. I never hear them.

Roger that.

I agree that 'hit me' in this form sounds strange. Perhaps the writer was thinking of the idiom 'It hit me hard', meaning it had a strong impact on me.

So, I should write "It hit me hard as I heard of

Hi,
So, I should write "It hit me hard as I heard of his death"?
More common is 'when' instead of 'as'.

[I now know that it would be more proper to say "I am very sorry ... "]
Your original used past tense, so consider 'I was very sorry . . .'

Best wishes, Clive

I may be responsible for the I am very sorry...

In BE we could easily say:

I am very sorry to hear that....
I was very sorry to hear that...
I'm most upset that...
I was most upset that...

I suspect the past tense is usually the more appropriate, but you'll hear the present very often too.

Thank you two~